Department of Political Science

Welcome to one of the fastest growing departments of political science in Switzerland. With a focus on international, European and comparative politics, we aim to innovate and broaden horizons in research and teaching.

Recent evaluations of political science in Switzerland show that we are an excellent research institution. In the latest years numbers of both faculty and students in political science have grown steadily. Today our department is recognised as a globally visible institution in political science with national and international collaborations in research and teaching. We are fully inserted in the political science community in Switzerland, one of the best world-wide.

Our success appears through many activities:

• The creation of research centres and programmes such as the "Center for Economics, Security, Technology" in 2007 and "Global Democratic Governance" in 2009.
• The organisation of national and international conferences like the Council of Europe meeting in 2009, the congress of the Swiss Political Science Association in 2009 and the ECPR Joint Sessions in 2011.
• The promotion of research and consultancies through the "Institute of Political Science" (IPW), a research unit that organises seminars and continuous education courses, manages projects funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation, the National Centre for Competence in Research and the Framework Programme of the EU.
• The publication of journals such as the Swiss Political Science Review from 2006 to 2010, and the Political Data Yearbook since 2010.
• The publication of innovative research and teaching books in internationally renowned university presses and peer-reviewed journals.
• The engagement in the wider public debate through contributions in the press and round tables with practitioners from politics, international organisations, civil society and the private sector.

With about 50 members and with over 30 Ph.D. candidates, combined with innovative inter-disciplinary teaching programmes in international affairs at the bachelor, master and doctoral levels, the Department of Political Science is an exciting and vibrant place to work and study.